Love’s Suicide(63)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“Katy, marriage is full of ups and downs. You can get through this. Bobby’s jealous of the love you share with Brooks. It ain’t fair for you to keep running around with him.”

“He’s the father of my child, the only man that I’ve ever loved with my whole heart. I didn’t leave Bobby because of Brooks. I left Bobby because I can’t be physically and verbally abused anymore. I won’t let my daughter grow up in that kind of environment. Whether Brooks is around or not, has nothing to do with my decision.”

“If you leave Bobby I don’t know if we can continue bein’ friends. People in this town talk, Katy. They know you’re havin’ an affair.”

“I’M NOT!” I screamed. “What is wrong with you people? I’ve never even kissed Brooks. This is ridiculous.”

“I’ll check on your house and call you tomorrow. Maybe by then you’ll have come to your senses.”

She hung up, leaving me sitting there with my mouth open. Bobby could be the sweetest man, but they didn’t know him like I did. If they wanted to believe him then they weren’t really my friends to begin with.

I turned off my phone and decided that the best thing for me was to get some rest. The only problem was, I couldn’t calm down. So I lay there, staring at the ceiling, thinking of what I was going to do next. I was positive about one thing. No matter what I had to do, or who I had to fight, I wasn’t losing Brooks this time around.

Chapter 36

I heard them coming back into the room and opened my eyes to see B holding all sorts of snacks in her little hands. She was giggling and Brooks couldn’t stop laughing himself. “Hey Mama. We’re back.”

I sat up in the bed and smiled. “I see that. Did you get everything they had?”

“We didn’t know which one you’d want.” B climbed up on the bed and watched as Brooks scattered the bags of chips and packages of candy.

I covered my mouth and began laughing. “We’ll never be able to eat all of this, and she’ll never go to sleep.”

He grabbed her and started tickling her until she screamed. When he stopped she reached for his hands and put them up to her belly. “Again.”

He tickled her again as I opened up a peanut butter cup and popped it into my mouth. I hadn’t had one in so long and it was like a burst of heaven awakening my taste buds. “This is so good.”

“Two matching cups, but you only get one.” He opened up his mouth and as I fed him a bite, I was taken back by a memory of when we were seniors in high school.

Of course, I was with Branch at the time and my relationship with Brooks was slowly fading into nothing. He was beginning to see lots of girls and staying away from us as much as possible. On this particular day, being Halloween, I decided to dress up to go to school. I knew I’d get in trouble if I showed off too much skin, so after finding a short black skirt and black top, I attached a tail and a pair of mouse ears and then added a few whiskers on my face. When we got into the car to head to school, Branch told me that I looked embarrassing and that he didn’t want to walk around with me to my classes. Brooks remained quiet in the backseat, never saying a word until we’d reached school. As Branch found his sport friends and walked away, I stood around waiting for Brooks. “I think you look cute, Kat.”

“Thanks.”

“You know how Branch is.” We began walking and I didn’t reply to his comment.

Brooks proceeded to walk me to my locker and wait as I exchanged my books. “You know, we could go out and trick or treat tonight if you want.”

“We’re too old.”

“Never! We could put on masks and nobody would even know.”

I’d always loved Halloween and the fun that it brought being able to get dressed up and act silly for one night out of the year. “Branch would just get mad.”

“Who gives a shit about what Branch thinks? Kat, you used to be fun. What happened to you?”

At the time, I took it offensively and left him standing there in the hallway. I don’t remember much of the rest of the day, but later on, when I went to my locker, I found a note and a package of peanut butter cups inside. One had been eaten. The letter said.

Two peanut butter cups, but you’re only allowed one.

I never understood what it meant until I’d taken a bite just then. When my face looked serious, Brooks stopped chewing. “What’s wrong?”

“Do you remember when we were in school and you left the peanut butter cups for me?”

“One cup,” he corrected.

“Was that note some cryptic way of you telling me to choose you?”

He started chewing again and lifting B over his head. “Maybe.”

I pushed him lightly. “Why couldn’t you just say it to me, instead of leaving me messages that made no sense?”

Brooks laughed. “Because I wanted you to choose on your own, not because I persuaded it. Little hints along the way couldn’t hurt. Not that it ever helped anyway. You were too damn stubborn to think that what you were doing was wrong, or who I should say.”

“Brooks! Cut it out.”

We both began to laugh as I got up and walked into the bathroom. I’d been wearing Brooks’ shirt, but still had on a pair of shorts and a bra. I considered taking them off so I could sleep comfortably, but I didn’t want Brooks to get the wrong idea. I looked into the mirror anyway, making sure I looked halfway decent. “Jesus woman, you’re lucky he doesn’t go running the other direction.” I knew there was little I could do to change how I looked, so I decided to not let it bother me.

When I opened the door to go out, he was standing on the other side. His one arm was up, leaning against the frame. “I think you’re beautiful.”

I was flabbergasted. “I think all that sugar is going to your head.”

He moved his arm and let me walk by him without saying anything else. B was already up on the bed, watching something on television. She was sucking on her two fingers, which usually meant she was tired. I grabbed her cup and filled it with milk from the mini refrigerator. She didn’t sit up as I handed it to her. After taking two sips, she set it beside her and put her fingers back in her mouth. I covered her up and kissed her lightly on the cheek. “Love you, B.”

She smiled and closed her eyes as I started rubbing her soft face. Brooks walked behind me and climbed on the other bed. I didn’t turn to look at him, because I wanted B to go to bed without being distracted by anything else.